Tim Cushing 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (1568)

• On the post: Youtube, Creative Commons And Why It's OK For You To License Your Artwork Any Way You Want

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2011 @ 02:21pm

  Re:

  I appreciate your concern, but I work two (2) day jobs, seven days a week (excluding major holidays -- and since neither job is with the post office, I mean only major holidays). I'm not in school. (See also: working seven days a week.)
  
  I don't get paid for writing. Not here. Not at the other places I've been published. And there's certainly nothing rolling in over at my oft-neglected blog. But I'm still writing. Go figure.
  
  Let's get to my failures. (I was really tempted to use quotation marks on the last word, but I'll go ahead and ride it out.)
  
  1.) You're correct. There is little gained in society for someone else to do exactly the same thing. I never claimed that. If someone remixes a track (even something CC-licensed) and it makes bank, the original doesn't cease to exist, nor does it logically follow that there is no market for the original.
  
  In your example... well, we can't really use your example. CC licensing is not permission for someone to take someone's artwork and sign their name to it. That's not the intent at all. Even at it's most liberal (CC-BY), you can share the artwork as long as you attribute it. You can't just say "I made this" and walk off with the money. So, whatever intrinsic value there is in the original remains with the original.
  
  Let's use another example: derivative works.
  
  Someone grabs your CC-licensed "Mona Lisa," draws a mustache on it and sells the hell out of it. The attribution is still there, linking the original back to the creator. Now, an un-mustached "Mona Lisa" may not be as popular as the derivative work, but that's hardly the fault of the artist doing the "remix."
  
  Now, your example does work, but has nothing to do with CC licensing. Signed and numbered lithographs from the original artist will be worth more and have a higher value to most people. This is correct. Unfortunately, this doesn't really refute anything I said. If anything, it confirms it. When I said "art gets used up," I was drawing a facetious inference from statements made by CC licensing opponents.
  
  2.) There is no competition for free, especially when the free is the only product that you sell. Exactly. And nobody at this site, not even me, is going to tell you differently. But your argument falls off the rails when you start claiming "free" is a business model. It isn't. It can be part of one, but it can never be the whole thing. There's nothing in this post that indicates "free" is a business model.
  
  My argument was about letting artists who want to release their work for free should be allowed to, rather than forced, coerced or heavily nudged towards regular old copyright.
  
  As for "free" removing the incentive to create content? It doesn't. Everyone creating art in a digital medium (music, books, software, movies, etc.) already competes with free whether they want to or not.
  
  These major industries are all competing with piracy and they certainly don't want to. But they're still selling their products as well. It may not be as much as they're used to, but they're doing it. They have no choice. They think they do, hence all the legislative arm-twisting and courtroom appearances, but all that time, money and effort would be better spent building their business, rather than trying to kill off something that won't be killed.
  
  You can argue that a race to the bottom in prices and the attendant "free" remove the incentive to create but you won't get very far. If that were the case (and sunk cost were that much of a factor), no one would be creating and that's obviously not the case. If you need any proof of that, just read some of the other comments in the thread.
  
  Also, I'll add in my own personal CASE IN POINT. I work two jobs but I still write in my extremely limited spare time. I don't know whether I'll ever make money writing (and I realistically believe I probably won't), but the 95% surety that I'll never "monetize" my writing hasn't stopped me. In fact, I've written more in the past two years than I have in my previous 30+.
  
  Even though I think there's no chance of making a living doing what I love, here's two things you'll never see me do:
  
  1.) Stop writing.
  2.) Complain about doing it for free.
  
  This writing gig at Techdirt allows me to write for a website I respect and one that I've followed for over 4 years. That's payment enough. The possibility of building from a larger platform than my personal blog is a bonus. The opportunity to interact with people all over the world is the juice.
  
  So, if nothing else, don't push people out of using a CC license just because it goes against how you believe art should be distributed or "valued." It's their artwork. They should be able to give it away or set it on fire or charge $1 million for it if they want to.
  
  And please, various ACs, please don't encourage me to not give up my day job. I've already got plenty of those. If you think I suck, then just say so. It pretty much boils down to the same thing. And as for every post having "some sort of basic failure"? Click on my profile and start building me a list. I'm very curious to see this collection of errors.

• On the post: Youtube, Creative Commons And Why It's OK For You To License Your Artwork Any Way You Want

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2011 @ 06:48pm

  Re:

  Don't tell me that the AC with the hat made entirely of ass who criticized the wrong post author is now critiquing someone else's "criticism."
  
  (May I direct your attention to the quotation marks around "criticism." We'll get back to those.)
  
  1. "The guy with the extra chromosome is not who you think he is.
  
  2. RE: ever/evar. I was quoting Scott Burke's own headline for the benefit of the readers who weren't interested in clicking through to the source material and experience for themselves the meme-riffing "cleverness" that is Scott's headline. Quoting someone is not criticism. (Hence the quotation marks above. Also hence the quotation marks around "cleverness," indicating that it is anything but.)
  
  3. Also this thing, which may enlighten you as to the existence of an "on-purpose" misspelling of "ever." Try to maintain your focus. It runs about 40-45 words spread over three definitions.
  
  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=evar
  
  4. I don't know how long you've been holding onto that particular gem ("wrong list of Senators"), but I hope it's been at least several weeks. It must have been tough sitting on this powderkeg, waiting for Mike (or whoever you think is "chromosome +") to slip up just once so you could tear his whole world apart with this one devastating line. And now you've wasted it on a know-nothing underling (who you could have insulted simply for being "not Mike" or "not funny") by hastily drawing the wrong conclusions (presumably in crayon).
  
  Slick.

• On the post: While Sony Sues Modders, Samsung Sends Them Devices To Mod Faster

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2011 @ 05:11pm

  Re: I still hope Sony will do the right thing

  Lulzsec has already taken Sony's sword and posted it at Pastebin.

• On the post: Apple's Music Match: Innovation By (Record Label) Committee

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2011 @ 07:34pm

  Plus this...

  For $35 and the installation of Shazam, if you can hum a few recognizable bars of the song, it will be added to your library.

• On the post: NATO Threatens Anonymous; Kicks Off Weekend-Long Hackathon

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2011 @ 05:24pm

  Re:

  An internet hat company? Now I've heard everything!
  
  [Shakes head in confounded bemusement.]

• On the post: French Radio And Television Newscasters Say 'Au Revoir' To Facebook And Twitter

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 06 Jun, 2011 @ 05:13pm

  Re: Re: Please?

  +1 to this. He also fails to research his articles or he'd know there are plenty of alternatives to both fb and twitter, especially if you're not in the US.
  
  You're right. I failed to mention these options:
  
  Academia.edu
  Advogato
  aNobii
  aSmallWorld
  AsianAvenue
  Athlinks
  Audimated.com
  Avatars United
  Badoo
  Bebo
  Bigadda
  Biip.no
  BlackPlanet
  Blauk
  Blogster
  Bolt.com
  Buzznet
  CafeMom
  Cake Financial
  Care2
  CaringBridge
  Cellufun
  Classmates.com
  Cloob
  CouchSurfing
  CozyCot
  Cross.tv
  Crunchyroll
  Cyworld
  DailyBooth
  DailyStrength
  Decayenne
  delicious
  deviantART
  Disaboom
  Dol2day
  DontStayIn
  Draugiem.lv
  douban
  Elftown
  Epernicus
  Eons.com
  Experience Project
  Exploroo
  Faceparty
  Faces.com
  Fetlife
  FilmAffinity
  FledgeWing
  Flixster
  Flickr
  Focus.com
  Folkdirect
  Fotki
  Fotolog
  Foursquare
  Friends Reunited
  Friendster
  Fr?hst?ckstreff
  Fubar
  Gaia Online
  GamerDNA
  Gather.com
  Gays.com
  Geni.com
  Gogoyoko
  Goodreads
  Goodwizz
  Google Buzz
  GovLoop
  Grono.net
  Habbo
  hi5
  Hospitality Club
  Hotlist
  HR.com
  Hub Culture
  Hyves
  Ibibo
  Identi.ca
  Indaba Music
  IRC-Galleria
  italki.com
  InterNations
  Itsmy
  iWiW
  Jaiku
  kaioo
  Kaixin001
  Kiwibox
  Lafango
  LaiBhaari
  Last.fm
  LibraryThing
  Lifeknot
  LinkedIn
  LinkExpats
  Listography
  LiveJournal
  Livemocha
  LunarStorm
  MEETin
  Meetup.com
  Meettheboss
  Mixi
  mobikade
  MocoSpace
  MOG
  MouthShut.com
  Mubi (website)
  Multiply
  Muxlim
  MyAnimeList
  MyHeritage
  MyLife
  My Opera
  Myspace
  myYearbook
  Nasza-klasa.pl
  Netlog
  Nettby
  Nexopia
  NGO Post
  Ning
  Odnoklassniki
  OneClimate
  OneWorldTV
  Open Diary
  Orkut
  OUTeverywhere
  Passportstamp
  Partyflock
  Pingsta
  Plaxo
  Playahead
  Playlist.com
  Plurk
  Present.ly
  Qapacity
  Quechup
  Qzone
  Raptr
  Ravelry
  Renren
  ResearchGate
  ReverbNation.com
  Ryze
  ScienceStage
  Scispace.net
  ShareTheMusic
  Shelfari
  Skyrock
  Social_Life_(website)
  SocialVibe
  Sonico.com
  Stickam
  StudiVZ
  StumbleUpon
  Tagged
  TalentTrove
  Talkbiznow
  Taltopia
  Taringa!
  TeachStreet
  TermWiki
  TravBuddy.com
  Travellerspoint
  tribe.net
  Trombi.com
  Tuenti
  Tumblr
  Vkontakte
  Vampirefreaks.com
  Viadeo
  Virb
  Vox
  Wakoopa
  Wattpad
  Wasabi
  WAYN
  WebBiographies
  WeeWorld
  WeOurFamily
  Wer-kennt-wen
  weRead
  Windows Live Spaces
  WiserEarth
  WriteAPrisoner.com
  Xanga
  XING
  Xt3
  Yammer
  Yelp, Inc.
  Youmeo
  Zoo.gr
  Zooppa
  
  The largest of these is Qzone with 480 million members, almost all of them Chinese. Now, with all that research behind me, it's now clear that this word dump completely invalidates the premise of this post.
  
  I'll be sure to add a retraction that points out your helpful advice and possibly run a full correction, noting that this latest in French legislation is fully justified. With these FB and Twitter-shilling newscasters properly muzzled, it's only a matter of time before these two preferred networks fall into disuse and eventual "where-are-they-now" status.
  
  I hope that this also enlightens our other readers who I may have mislead with my snarky bashing of Myspace and Twitter. You have my humblest apologies for my ill-informed attempt to bash France without any pertinent information to back up the claims I facetiously made.
  
  I also applaud William for taking the lead in regards to Google's new +1 feature. I'm am also certain that the heady days of pressing FB's omnipresent "Like" button are well behind us.
  
  [Note: to the commenter above this fray ("The way time writes makes me now want to skip whatever item he is writing about") -- you may want to skip reading this because I'm writing it. My apologies for placing my afterthought at the end of this extra-long comment, rather than before it, but as I stated, it was an afterthought.]

• On the post: IFPI/BPI: Picking Off The Weak In The Herd

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2011 @ 10:01am

  Re: Re:

  Alcohol and decimals don't mix... apparently.

• On the post: IFPI/BPI: Picking Off The Weak In The Herd

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2011 @ 07:41am

  I once knew a standout lad named Sobriety Chip back in my Brown days. Bit of a prig, but could always be counted on for a ride back to the dorms after pushing my BAC past .016 or so.
  
  Speaking of "culling the herd," I'm hoping that's how alcohol works with brain cells.

• On the post: Lodsys Sues Developers Ahead Of The Deadline It Gave Developers To Pay Up

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2011 @ 02:26am

  At some point, the rest of the nation's judicial system is going to ask East Texas to secede. That will make some Texans happy and they may just be enthusiastic enough to do it for the rest of the state.
  
  Thousands of patent lawsuits will be invalidated and football will truly become an international sport. (Yes, I know Canada has their own football thing, but wasn't that just started to give Doug Flutie somewhere to play until he got bigger?)

• On the post: Console Manufacturers Pressure Google Into Pulling Emulators From The Android Market

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 04:59pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  The ability to run "pirated software" aside, why would a console kill off an emulator of a current console? This probably oversimplifies things, but aren't the consoles themselves a net loss and the software sales are where the money's at. You'd think they'd want more emulators if that's the case.
  
  You know, you lose some to piracy but suddenly everyone who owns a computer is part of your market. There's plenty of console games that never get ported.

• On the post: Console Manufacturers Pressure Google Into Pulling Emulators From The Android Market

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 04:45pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Serious Question

  I'm not a fan of it either. My Blackberry (thru Alltel) wasn't restricted this way. But Alltel got swallowed and coughed up a shiny Android in return. The only positive out of the whole experience is being grandfathered in on Alltel's data plan, so I still have no data cap. For now.

• On the post: Console Manufacturers Pressure Google Into Pulling Emulators From The Android Market

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 04:42pm

  Re: Re: US Carrier Lockin

  Pretty much it's tied to a carrier. It's cheaper this way (initial investment only) as the cost of the phone is subsidized by the multi-year contract. I suppose you could go the other route, but this method is definitely the standard.

• On the post: Streaming Music To Phones Is Officially The Oldest Trick In The Book

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 04:14pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  Well, I appreciate the genuine constructive criticism, which is rarely delivered by anyone sporting the initials "AC".
  
  Some post ideas grab me as something to go "over the top" with and others are better off with a subtler touch. I'm not sure what I'm saying here but I think it has something to do with "this will probably happen again" but I won't be doing it just to spite you (or anyone else), if that makes sense...

• On the post: Streaming Music To Phones Is Officially The Oldest Trick In The Book

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 04:08pm

  Re: Re: Hipsters

  There are lots of great comments in this thread, but I'm very fond of this one...

• On the post: Streaming Music To Phones Is Officially The Oldest Trick In The Book

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 04:05pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Well

  Forgiven. I'm also cool with Threestrikes Is Messiah, if only because I'd really like to work the word "Messiah" into my name somehow.

• On the post: Streaming Music To Phones Is Officially The Oldest Trick In The Book

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 04:04pm

  Re:

  I lost count at 8...

• On the post: Console Manufacturers Pressure Google Into Pulling Emulators From The Android Market

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 03:32pm

  Re: Clarification

  I've updated the post with this information. Thanks for the heads up.

• On the post: Console Manufacturers Pressure Google Into Pulling Emulators From The Android Market

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 03:30pm

  Re: Re: Re: Serious Question

  Careful where you go. My carrier switched from Alltel to AT&T (as part of some world dominance plan that involved my cellphone somehow) and the smartphone upgrade I got can only install apps through AT&T's app store.

• On the post: Console Manufacturers Pressure Google Into Pulling Emulators From The Android Market

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 03:27pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: VII

  I can never keep the III/VI, IV/II or whatever the hell they were doing with their interchangeable roman numerals. I would have said VIII, but there would have been a mass derailment, which seeing how things are going with this post, might have been welcome...

• On the post: So Much Fuss Over A Photo That The Photographer Has No Problem With People Copying

  

  Tim Cushing ( profile ), 01 Jun, 2011 @ 04:44am

  MSNBC feels they DID THE RIGHT THING and wants everyone else out there to know it. "We paid for it even though no one was asking for money. How altrustic of us. Burn on the rest of you freeloading news agencies and etc."

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